Correspondingly
by Jougetsu
Summary: Lucy lives for the letters she receives from her siblings and cousin.


-1**Fandom:** Chronicles of Narnia  
**Title:** Correspondingly  
**Author:** Jougetsu  
**Rating/Warnings:** G-rated; Utterly gen  
**Summary:** Post Dawn-Treader/Silver Chair, Lucy lives for the letters she receives from her siblings and cousin.

**Disclaimer:** "The Chronicles of Narnia" are the property of the Estate of C.S. Lewis, Walden Media, Walt Disney Pictures, et cetera. No profit is being made from this fan work.

**Notes:** Unbeta'd so any and all mistakes are mine. Story takes place after "Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'" and "The Silver Chair," roughly during the autumn of 1942. This is my first Narnia fic and I'm still trying to get a handle on the character voices, though I've been reading the books for years. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! Please enjoy!

x x x

Coming back the third time is the hardest.

It could be because she knows that Narnia was forever beyond her reach. It could be because it was the only time Peter and Susan aren't part of the adventure.

She thinks it's mostly about growing up.

The first time, isn't too bad. It was almost as if there are too many memories for one little girl to have, memories she isn't allowed to have. It helps having her brothers and sister close by to reminisce or joke about their time in Narnia. Her life as a queen and an adult woman seems far and away.

The second time is harder, knowing that their friends, their Narnia, is buried and ancient. Even worse is the new knowledge that not only could one return to Narnia, one could be banned from it as well. After that time, both Peter and Susan are less than enthusiastic to speak of that magical country. While she suspects Peter was doing his best to take it in stride, Susan seems to take Aslan's decree quite personally, as if it had been a condemnation. Before long, there's a cold resentment in her eyes when Aslan or Narnia is mentioned.

And now here she is, in exile from a home she'd known longer than any other. None of the Pevensie children would ever again set foot in the land that changed their lives forever. Worse still that their childhood home is forever altered and not only from the war. Susan is to spend another year abroad, the boys are sent off to different boarding schools, and for the first time Lucy is the only one at home. She can't say it isn't lonely.

There isn't much that helps. Praying on bended knee feels hollow and is nothing at all like hearing Aslan's rumbling voice or looking into his understanding eyes. Toys and games are temporary diversions, ones that she's quickly growing out of. Books help, almost any kind would do as long as she could find escape. The most effective treatment of all, though, is writing. Understandably, she's apprehensive about writing too much about Narnia in her journal. Some of it could be passed off as a child's fancy, but the rest might well resemble madness. That leaves correspondence.

Most days she lives for those letters.

Peter's letters are always special. He uses fine paper and writes in his very best penmanship. They always begin "Dear Little Queen" and end "Your loving brother, Peter." He writes just as if they were still king and queen in way that's comforting and not at all hurtful, (even though she tears up a bit at the small lion rampant he puts next to his signature). Narnia and Aslan are never mentioned by name, but respectively substituted with "Over There" and "He"/"Him." Anyone who glances at them might think that a brother was giving theological advice to a sister. Which it wouldn't be that amiss...

Her replies are usually full of good cheer, requests for advice, and if the vocabulary is beyond the average a ten-year-old there's no helping it. Every so often, she'll let slip a note misery and is a little ashamed.

x x x

_Perhaps, most of all I miss archery. I miss the satisfaction of achieving a definite goal, with precision and poise. I miss that sense of accomplishment._

Lucy Pevensie in a letter to her brother Peter

x x x

_My dearest sister, I am have not wavered in my earlier conviction; that in embracing life fully and striving towards self-cultivation, would do Him proud._

Peter Pevensie in a letter to his sister Lucy

x x x

Edmund's letter are half full of worry, he dislikes that she's the only one left at home. So he tries to make the other half cheerful and newsie, but almost always ends up mentioning Narnia. She understands, knowing that it's never on purpose and that the wounds are still a little fresh. So she sends along reassurances to his worries, and anecdotes and suppositions for the rest.

x x x

_Are you getting on all right? Bet it's loads quieter without the pack of us at each other's elbows. We have the most brilliant new history teacher. He reminds me of the Prof, only not as old. It's terrible really, I get so wound up in his class I nearly blurt out "Oh we had something just like that at Cair Paravel!" or "We negotiated those kinds of treaties all the time with Calormene and Archenland."_

Edmund Pevensie to Lucy Pevensie

x x x

_Don't worry so, Ed! It's been quiet as Sundays the whole month through and school's more boring than ever. You know, even though I know that our times aren't the same, I can just imagine the harvest feasts that must be happening in Narnia right now. Can you imagine the Star having boar and cider? She looked as if she dined on sunlight and sipped moonbeams._

Lucy Pevensie to her brother Edmund

x x x

Susan's are chatty affairs, full of goings-on and gossip. Sometimes they hurt the most, because it can be like receiving letters from a stranger. As time goes on, she's puzzling to find some familiarity, be it Susan the Practical Older Sister, or Susan the Gentle, Amiable Queen. Lucy writes back whatever she thinks the changing Susan would like (though it's partially guesswork) and fills her replies accordingly with neighborhood news and chit-chat.

x x x

_Do you remember Miss Peddleton from primary school? Her sweetheart just returned from the continent and they plan to marry in two months! Mum says it's a shame they never got to have a proper engagement, with the War on and all...Julia's cat had kittens last month and now they're almost grown up enough to be given away. They are adorable! Two of them are even tawny, like little lions! I hope Dad changes his mind and lets us have one._

Lucy Pevensie to her sister Susan

x x x

_I'm so glad I went abroad because even though I was a little afraid at first, America is marvelous. There's parties and dancing, and every Saturday you can go to the cinema for a whole afternoon. Maybe before I return to England, Mum will bring you over on holiday. Americans seem to think that the English are exotic and like royalty._

Susan Pevensie to her sister Lucy

x x x

Even if she and Edmund found were less than thrilled at the onset, Lucy finds herself genuinely glad that Eustace got to visit Narnia and even gladder that it did him a world of good. His letters make her think of puppies; enthusiastic, clumsy, and without a speck of arrogance. Shortly after term began, a big fat letter came from Eustace; he had been to Narnia with one of his classmates. She's rereads that letter so many times she has it memorized. The wait until the next school holidays seems unfathomable, Lucy feels she can't possibly wait that long to visit them. To compensate, she writes long, long letters full of anecdotes about Narnia, asking for his and Jill's thoughts and impressions of that world, and just a little gentle teasing about his time as a dragon.

x x x

_The Experiment House has been loads better since we came back. Funny what the fear of a lion will do to people...Jill can't wait to meet you and Edmund and Peter! You said before that Professor Kirke had been There right? It'd be ripping if we could visit his country house over summer hols and have a good long jaw about Narnia. I'm sure we can all get permission from the parents if the Prof is game._

Eustace Scrubb to his cousin Lucy Pevensie

x x x

_Fear of a lion, just imagine what the fear of a dragon would have done! Do tell Jill that we're terribly excited to meet her, too! Peter's writing to the Prof on our all our behalf, isn't that kind of him? I'm already working on Mum and Dad to let us go. We'll have grand picnics on the grounds, just like Midsummers at Cair Paravel! Edmund says if we're lucky, we might even be able to get some sword practice in. Of course, that would have to be on a day when the Macready is visiting her sister in the village..._

Lucy Pevensie to her cousin Eustace Scrubb

x x x

Lucy organizes the letters by date and sender, and those from the same correspondent she ties with a matching ribbon. Each letter is then carefully tucked into a box, on top of her dresser. It's lined with lavender-scented paper and when she lifts the lid, it smells like happy memories. Mum offers her a real wooden letterbox of her own, but she knows it won't be the same. Maybe when this box is full to the top, when all envelopes are bound so tightly together that there's not a speck of space left, just maybe she'll reconsider.

But she rather doubts it.

So she starts writing her next letter. 

THE END 


End file.
